Briefing you about our Field School for Quaternary Palaeoanthropology and Prehistory of Murcia
Yüklə 0,65 Mb.
|
- Bu səhifədəki naviqasiya:
- IF YOU ARE MAKING ALTERNATIVE TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS AND WANT US TO TRY TO MEET YOU AT ANY OTHER TIME OR PLACE , IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT BY
- 2012 , either BY WRITING AIRMAIL TO: Professor Michael Walker Subdepartment of Physical Anthropology
- Whether or not we agree to do so, will depend on whether it is convenient for us
- Cueva Negra
- TRAVEL OPTIONS BY RAIL OR COACH If you plan to arrive by rail or coach on a rendez-vous Thursday afternoon, do NOT
- YOU MUST NOT
IT IS MOST IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THE MURCIA-SAN JAVIER AIRPORT IS BY THE SEA AND THE MURCIAN COAST IS A MAJOR HOLIDAY RESORT AREA, SO HIGH-SEASON FLIGHTS IN THE JULY-AUGUST HOLIDAY PERIOD GET FULLY BOOKED UP SEVERAL WEEKS AHEAD. SO IF YOU ARE COMING YOU SHOULD FINALIZE YOUR TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS, BY THE END OF APRIL IF YOU WANT TO BE SURE OF GETTING A SEAT THROUGH TO MURCIA-SAN JAVIER. REMEMBER THAT ON-LINE BOOKING WITH COMPANIES LIKE RYANAIR OFTEN GIVES YOU A VERY CHEAP DEAL IF YOU BOOK A FEW MONTHS BEFOREHAND. IF YOU ARE MAKING ALTERNATIVE TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS AND WANT US TO TRY TO MEET YOU AT ANY OTHER TIME OR PLACE, IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT BY JUNE 1st YOU HAVE INFORMED ME IN WRITING. YOU MUST INFORM ME DIRECTLY BEFORE JUNE 1st 2012, either BY WRITING AIRMAIL TO: Professor Michael Walker Subdepartment of Physical Anthropology Department of Zoology and Physical Anthropology Biology Faulty Murcia University 30100 Murcia Spain or BY FAXING me on 34-868-883963 at any place, date, or time of day, other than the rendez-vous place, dates, and times, given above, you will be expected to pay for our petrol even if we have agreed to come to meet you or set you down. Whether or not we agree to do so, will depend on whether it is convenient for us, because a major field project has many commitments which tie up our vehicles and staff. Unless you have received a reply from me personally, that we shall meet you, you MUST find your own way to the accomodation base at your own expense. For Cueva Negra, our base is the residential Ascruz state-run school (Colegio Ascruz) on the edge of the town of Caravaca de la Cruz, and for Sima de las Palomas it is the state school at Dolores de Pacheco where we can be contacted via the village Civic Centre where we take our meals at its restaurant. If you get into difficulties when travelling to us, and cannot arrive at an agreed time or place, try phoning us, so that we aren't hanging around unnecessarily, and can try to help you with an alternative rendez-vous. You can try my cell phone number 620-267104 (34-620-267104 from outside Spain) though when in the field this number may very well be out of cover (especially at Cueva Negra) and you would need to ensure before leaving your country of origin that your own mobile phone is set up so as to be able to dial cheaply within Spain and not via a hideously expensive international phone call that re-routes your call first through your country of origin and back again to Spain!!! If dialling from a public phone box, we recommend you put a one euro (1€) coin into the phone and dial either 968-700844 (the Ascruz school at Caravaca, after 15.00 hours Central European Time (CET) when we have got back from the field; 34-968-700844 from outside Spain ) or 968-173200 (Dolores de Pacheco Civic Centre, after 15.00 hours Central European Time (CET) when we have got back from the field; 34-968-173200 from outside Spain), depending on which field base you need to get to. Check on the time zone before you phone; 14.00 hours U.K. time is equivalent to 15.00 hours CET, but if you're phoning from the U.S.A. there are several hours of difference! If you arrive at any place, date, or time of day, other than the rendez-vous place, dates, and times, given above, you will be expected to pay for our petrol even if we have agreed to come to meet you or set you down. Whether or not we agree to do so, will depend on whether it is convenient for us, because a major field project has many commitments which tie up our vehicles and staff. Unless you have received a reply from me personally, that we shall meet you, you MUST find your way to the accomodation base at your own expense. In that regard, the following information may be helpful. Cueva Negra: From Murcia Airport to our accomodation base at Caravaca's "Colegio Público "Ascruz" de Educación Especial" (Residential Public School "Ascruz" for Disabled Children), the distance of 120 kilometres means your taxi fare will cost you at least €80 euros a head and maybe a good bit more. It could therefore be very expensive for you if you fly in on a day or at a time other than the scheduled rendez-vous ones. Sima de las Palomas: From Murcia-San Javier Airport to our accomodation is at the village school at Dolores de Pacheco but we eat three times a day at its village "Centro Cívico" (Civic Centre) which is only about 8 kilometres by road from the Airport, and so if you are flying in on a day or at a time other than the scheduled rendez-vous ones, we can probably pick you up at the Airport, provided we have advance information; if we do not, a taxi to our accomodation base from the Airport should cost about €10 euros. TRAVEL OPTIONS BY RAIL OR COACH If you plan to arrive by rail or coach on a rendez-vous Thursday afternoon, do NOT head for Murcia-San Javier Airport without first consulting me, Michael Walker, directly, because it will probably be SIMPLER for us (and you) to arrange to meet you that day - elsewhere, and at another time- especially if you arecoming to Cueva Negra: e.g. at Calasparra railway station if you’re coming by train, or where the coaches from Murcia stop in Caravaca itself if you’re coming by coach. Under NO circumstances will we meet passengers off trains at Murcia city railway station, because there is always such a throng of travellers there that you could easily miss us or we could easily miss you. The distance between Caravaca and Murcia-San Javier Airport, together with our shortage of cars and drivers, means that unfortunately there is very little room indeed for flexibility in our arrangements to meet people coming to Cueva Negra other than at the official Thursday rendezvous time and place. We can be more flexible with regard to people coming to Sima de las Palomas because our base at Dolores de Pacheco is quite near to both the Mucia-San Javier Airport and the Balsicas-San Javier railway station. Cueva Negra: If you plan on coming to Caravaca by rail from Madrid, take the Madrid-Murcia-Cartagena train to the station of Calasparra. If you have not been informed by me that you will be met by us at Calasparra station, then you must find a taxi to our accomodation base at Caravaca (20 kilometres away) at your own expense. You need to look very carefully at the train time-table (see below) for trains plying the Madrid-Albacete-Murcia-Cartagena line, because no more than TWO of the 4 or 5 daily trains each way, stop at Calasparra station and so you must make sure you take one that does. If you want to come to Caravaca by train from Barcelona, you will have to take a train to Murcia from Barcelona on the Wednesday, spend that night in an hotel at Murcia, and catch an early bus up to Caravaca from Murcia city bus station on the Thursday morning (they leave hourly at ten-past the hour and take 90 minutes); it would be simpler and cheaper for you to take an overnight long-distance coach from Barcelona to Murcia city bus station. Your return to Barcelona from Murcia by train from Caravaca would mean catching probably a through train which leaves at about 13.30 h from Murcia railway station, after getting to Murcia city bus station by bus from Caravaca during the morning, or you could simply change to a long-distance coach at the bus station in the city. The railway station and bus station in Murcia are at opposite ends of the city, and a long hot walk with luggage in the July sun! One small snag, if you insist on prebooking your tickets from outside Spain, is that travel agents (especially in the U.S.A.) may well tell you that they can only sell you tickets between Murcia and Calasparra at the full cost of the Murcia-Albacete part of the Cartagena-Murcia-Albacete-Madrid line: this would be very expensive for you and you’d be better off buying your ticket at Murcia station for the Murcia-Calasparra leg of your journey. A better way is to book your tickets yourself on-line over the web from the Spanish national railway company RENFE, and you can get information in different languages about how to do it at If you are coming by train from Madrid to spend some days at Cueva Negra followed by some days at Sima de las Palomas, then you could book a return ticket to Balsicas-San Javier railway station, from which you will be returning to Madrid, but get off at Calasparra railway station when you come to join us. Calasparra is nearer to Madrid, but you will find it is cheaper to book a return ticket to Balsicas-San Javier than to book two single tickets. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES will we meet passengers at Murcia city railway station (Murcia “El Carmen”), as there is always such a throng of travellers there that you could easily miss us or we could easily miss you. If you are coming by train from Barcelona to dig at both Cueva Negra and Sima de las Palomas afterwards, you could book a return to Balsicas-Mar Menor-San Javier but get off at Murcia to change for Calasparra. Cueva Negra: If you plan on coming to Caravaca by coach you will need to get a coach to Murcia city bus station and then change to the local coach out to Caravaca. From both Madrid and Barcelona there are several daily coaches to Murcia city bus-station; however, if you take a daytime coach - particularly from Barcelona, which is a long journey down to Murcia, or those which leave Madrid in the late afternoon rather than a morning coach - then you will arrive too late in the evening to catch the last Murcia-Caravaca coach, and will have to find an hotel for the night in Murcia city. To avoid that expense, you can catch overnight coaches to Murcia city on Wednesday from both Madrid and Barcelona, and then an early Thursday morning bus from Murcia out to Caravaca. From the Caravaca bus station it is about a kilometre and a half to our accomodation base at the "Colegio Público "Ascruz" de Educación Especial" (Residential Public School "Ascruz" for Disabled Children). If you want us to pick you up at the Caravaca coach-stop, phone us at the school (dial 968-700844) when you arrive, and, if we are there, we will do so (between 07.30 and 14.30 hours we are NOT there, because we are all at Cueva Negra excavating). Otherwise you can either take a taxi to the school, or walk if your luggage is a backpack. If walking, ask, first, how to get to large the “Templete” monumental fountain (a neo-Classical structure of columns and a cupola). It is beside a set of traffic-lights where you take the right-hand fork, which is the road signposted to Moratalla. Walk up the road for about 300 metres until you see a sign on the left to “Fuentes del Marqués” and Colegio Ascruz which, after walking about 800 metres along a country lane, is a large concrete modern building up on a low bluff on your right). There is a short-cut if you’re daring enough: once you’ve left the Templete behind you, and have gone about a hundred metres along the road to Moratalla, at the next set of traffic-lights you come to (beside a bar called “Zaián”), you can take the left-hand street, and, after about another 200 metres, where the street suddenly bends to the left, you, instead, go straight ahead along a pedestrian walk which passes some houses on your right and then becomes a very wide country footpath between a shady avenue of trees, which you follow for about 600 metres, until you reach a tarmac lane where you turn right and then take the first left up to the school. Sima de las Palomas: If you plan on coming from Madrid or Barcelona by rail to Dolores de Pacheco, you must catch the Madrid-Albacete-Murcia-Cartagena or Barcelona-Murcia-Cartagena trains to the station of Balsicas-San Javier which is a compulsory stop for ALL trains. In fact one of the Barcelona trains that stops at Balsicas-San Javier starts at the large southern French city of Montpellier If you have given us advance notice of your time of arrival, we can probably meet you; if not, you must find a taxi - the distance is about 15 kilometres and may cost you about €15 euros. If you plan on coming from Madrid or Barcelona by coach to Dolores de Pacheco, you have several options. From both cities there are long-distance coaches to Murcia city bus station. If you take overnight coaches to Murcia city from Madrid or Barcelona on Mondays you can easily get buses that leave in the early hours of Thursday from the Murcia city bus station which will take you Los Alcázares which is about 6 kilometres from Dolores de Pacheco, and, provided we have advance information about the place and time of your arrival, we may well be able to pick you up from Los Alcázares. You can always try phoning us at the Dolores de Pacheco "Centro Cívico" (dial 968-173020), but remember we are not there between 07.30 and 14.30 as we are at Sima de las Palomas excavating. In any case, a taxi should only cost you about €12 euros from where you leave the coach. The following shows the approximate times of trains on the Madrid-Albacete-Murcia-Cartagena railway line on Tuesdays in 2012 which does not involve your changing trains anywhere - except for the first train in the table. Times have been rounded to the nearest 5 minutes (trains are not very punctual). Take very good note that only two of them each way stop at Calasparra, whereas they all stop at Balsicas-Mar Menor. You should check them first over the web by going to Renfe on the web or sending an email to YOU MUST NOT GET OFF, OR GET ON, ANY TRAIN AT MURCIA CITY “EL CARMEN” RAILWAY STATION, BECAUSE WE DO NOT PICK UP OR SET DOWN THERE; THE BIG CITY STATION IS SO BUSY THAT WE CAN ALL TOO EASILY FAIL TO MEET UP WITH ANY PASSENGERS WHO GET OFF THERE. However, if booking on-line you may nevertheless have to make your bookings to/from Murcia city (Cueva Negra session), or Cartagena (Sima de las Palomas session), if the on-line booking system does not let you book on-line to/from Calasparra (Cueva Negra session), or Balsicas-Mar Menor (Sima de las Palomas session), but all the same you must get on/off your train only at Calasparra/Balsicas-Mar Menor railway stations; if you oversleep on the train and get carried downline to Murcia or Cartagena, you will have to make your own way to our bases, probably by hiring a very expensive taxi (you wouldn’t be the first to have done that!)!!!!
* * If you are coming to Cueva Negra and take any of these three trains, then, because we do not pick up arrivals at Murcia city railway station, once you get to Murcia city railway station you should take a taxi to Murcia city bus station (Estación de Autobuses) and from there take the bus from Murcia to Caravaca. BUT OVER THE YEARS WE HAVE NOTICED THAT SPANISH RAILWAYS HAVE HAD A BAD HABIT OF MAKING CHANGES IN THE TIME-TABLES, AND PARTICULARLY REGARDING JUST WHICH OF THE DAILY TRAINS MAY STOP AT CALASPARRA, SO THE ABOVE ARRANGEMENTS WHICH HAVE BEEN ANNOUNCED MIGHT BE CHANGED EVEN YET AGAIN IN 2012 – SO CHECK WITH YOUR TRAVEL AGENT! Madrid-Chamartín railway station is the Madrid terminus on the northeastern edge of the city, but all trains also stop at Madrid-Atocha railway station which is in the heart of Madrid and may be more convenient from some hotels. Return tickets are 20% cheaper than buying a single ticket each way. If you’re coming to both Cueva Negra and Sima de las Palomas, then buy a return ticket to Balsicas but get off at Calasparra, as it will be cheaper for you than buying two single tickets. Below were the advertized times of trains on the Barcelona(Sants)-Valencia-Alicante-Murcia-Cartagena railway line on Tuesdays in 2012 showing the stations of interest to us, but you should check first at the station or with a travel agent (note: they may be different on other days of the week, especially weekends and public holidays). Times are shown for the Sants station at Barcelona. This train takes you directly from Barcelona to Balsicas-Mar Menor:
The following involve changing trains at Murcia:
Yüklə 0,65 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
|